1. A Shattered World

The digital world was a place that had been invaded and destroyed many times in the past, but it had never been in this way. These creatures were digimon – digimon that called themselves The Shadow Spirits, but no one knew what their ultimate plan was. Some thought it was to reshape the very existence of the digital world – others blamed humans to be a part of it particularly those named Tai Kamiya and Izzy Izumi who had for many years created a balance between both worlds. But then, the links between the worlds grew weaker and soon, the digital devices stopped working on the gates.

The DigiDestined were no longer needed – their job had been done but had it? Humans meant to protect this world had added another element of darkness to it. Human corruption in addition to digital corruption which only made everything worse. Walking through the burnt forest, Coronamon made sure no one would attack him and his sister Lunamon. Since the death and separation of their family – all they really had was each other in the end and while he knew due to the weirdly special immunity the two of them have, they would likely be fine, he had to make sure.

There was no chaos at the moment in the burnt forest, only the smell of freshly burnt charcoal. The sand was also a little wet – perhaps it had rained, it would bring some relief to the world as it was, but it could also be a trick from the enemy. He'd rather not wait to find out and quickly returned to the cave he was staying in. Lunamon had fallen asleep waiting for him, but she shifted a little as he came inside.

"Another making sure we're not being watched trip?" Lunamon asked softly. "Niichan, we're safe here."

"We are being watched, maybe not by the enemy but something is watching us," Coronamon said softly. "What makes us so special, Luna? Haven't you ever wondered? Those needles don't affect us – they don't corrupt our data, they make us feel unwell but once we're away, we recover. It affected the DigiDestined's digimon too, Agumon and Gabumon. They were able to digivolve to Omnimon without their partners and without a digivice. They know we're immune and that could make us a bigger target than anyone."

Lunamon paused at this and shook her head. "We don't interact with other digimon anymore, Niichan. There could be other digimon who are immune to the needles…and to these dark spears. We just don't know. Who have we interacted with since we've lost our family?"

Coronamon went silent at that. That was true – he couldn't deny the truth in that statement. They had closed themselves off from most of the digital world – Lunamon had encouraged him many times to try and reach out to the DigiDestined digimon that were not confirmed to be captured or were in hiding but it just didn't feel right.

There was too much risk – if it turned out to be wrong, he would be putting both his own life and his sister's in danger and that was something he could not afford. The chosen digimon were prime targets after all and who knew whether they were immune or not? His flames stood on end as a bright light flashed and he moved to shield his sister who frowned but didn't look too frightened by this as they disappeared from the cave they were in into an empty space of white light.

Lunamon looked around. "I don't feel like we're in our cave anymore, Niisan."

"You're not," A man, who appeared to be in a white robe stepped forward in front of them. The digital world knew him as Gennai. By his side was a Leomon, Centarumon and Ogremon. Coronamon had heard of them assisting the second generation of DigiDestined who had come from the human world to save this one from darkness. Still, why call them here?

"Yes, we can see that," Coronamon rolled his eyes sarcastically. "But bringing us here against our will isn't much different from the enemy, is it?"

"Niisan," Lunamon chided but Gennai simply chuckled at the response, shaking his head.

"If we were the enemy, we would have brought you to us, unconscious," Gennai said simply. "Forgive our rudeness for the manner in which you were brought but we were running out of options in this dire situation."

Ogremon scoffed at this. "Putting it mildly, aren't you?"

"Ogremon," Leomon warned.

Ogremon glowered at his once rival, clearly having already put his differences aside to work with him. "The DigiDestined have abandoned us, Leomon!" He then turned his glare onto Gennai. "This is what we've received in return for the faith that you put in humans, Gennai!"

"Excuse me?" Lunamon interrupted in a soft voice. "I don't mean to belittle your indignance but what does any of this have to do with us? As you can see, my brother is quite overprotective so the sooner you tell us why you need us, the sooner we can go back home."

Coronamon blinked. Lunamon didn't often speak much but he couldn't help but appreciate her speaking now because he might have lost his temper at two of the digimon he had grown up hearing about as some of the legends who had saved the digital world.

Centarumon sighed a little. "The digimon has a point. Gennai, why did you call them here? Ogremon, Leomon, regardless of how you feel, this is bigger than us right now."

Gennai sighed, looking between the three digimon and Coronamon found his own posture relaxing a little. He looked exhausted – shoulders slumped and like he didn't completely know where to start. He would still protect Lunamon with his life, but he could tell Gennai was not a threat. Not this time, at least.

"Coronamon, Lunamon," Gennai said softly. "You both are two of the newer Chosen Digimon. I do not know who your DigiDestined are but the reason you are immune is because you have been chosen for a specific purpose. To partner with the DigiDestined and save the digital world. As much as you dislike humans, Ogremon, they are the ones who've saved this world before. I want to believe in them once more."

"Are you kidding?" Ogremon snapped angrily. "They haven't responded once! How do we know those digimon going to the real world will make a difference?"

"For two reasons," Gennai replied still calm, not at all phased by Ogremon's anger. "One – it is possible that the enemy has blocked the communications between the real world and the digital world. Secondly – if the chosen digimon go into the real world, the DigiDestined will definitely understand the severity of the situation. Or Izzy will at the very least."

Ogremon opened his mouth to retort but then shut it again, huffing. "Fine, what do you have in mind?"

"That once more, we place our faith in mankind and destiny," announced Gennai, solemn and stony-faced.

Ok, so Lunamon had said there might be something special about them despite the fact that the two of them had been the losers of the family. Everyone else was leading armies or using healing methods to help when the digital world was taken over, but they had been nothing but a burden – the only thing making them useful was that they were immune to the darkness. He had never thought it could be possible, and he wasn't sure he wanted to take part in a war that had taken away his family.

"Why do we have to?" Coronamon asked. "Lunamon and I just want to live our life in peace."

"Because if you don't, more families like yours may be destroyed," Gennai said softly. "It's not a burden anyone should carry, but please…take this to the human world." He handed a small blue globe with a shining light in it. "It's a DigiCore, it will transport you safely. Both worlds need you now. If you won't do it for the digital world, do it to help the world become safer for your sister."

Coronamon frowned at this – it was emotional blackmail but at the same time, it wasn't like it didn't have a point. It would put him in further danger but maybe with a human partner, he'd be able to make this world a safer place for Lunamon…though wait a second.

"Fine," Coronamon said simply. "I'll be this chosen digimon or whatever, but Lunamon stays out of it."

To his surprise, it wasn't Gennai who answered but Lunamon who stepped up to face him and shook her head. That was something he had not seen coming.

"We're not children anymore," Lunamon said softly. "I understand you want to protect me, but I want to fight, Niisan and if I'm going to have a human partner, I will have someone to protect and someone else who will care about me too. I'll always have you, but we need more than each other, Niisan. So, please…trust me to fight by your side. Don't see me as someone you need to protect anymore but as someone you can be your partner as well. Even if you don't want to, I want this…please, Oniisan?" She made her most adorable face, something she made when the two of them had been a lot younger and he had to look away.

Dang it, why did she have to make actual sense and make that face? It made it a lot harder to come up with a reason why she shouldn't fight. She made some solid points, and she had grown up a lot. He wanted to protect her but how was he supposed to say no to that face? No, he had to stay firm. He opened his mouth to tell her no but scowled at her face again, clamping it back shut, unable to find the words. He tried this a couple more times but eventually he huffed and turned away.

"Fine," Coronamon grumbled. "But stay close to me."

Lunamon beamed and hugged him. "Thanks, you're the best. Gennai, how do we get to the human world?"

Gennai didn't respond, he simply raised the DigiCore, and another blinding light overtook them. Coronamon didn't shield his sister from the light this time however when the light faded, he could see machines moving back and forth on a dark grey road. This…this was the human world?